Well .. I was more thinking that Halfords, M&S etc are all over here too. And Debenhams is in the most difficult position of all. So it was more about possible knockon effect of the above in UK could spill over here too. We are not immune ..

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Well .. I was more thinking that Halfords, M&S etc are all over here too. And Debenhams is in the most difficult position of all. So it was more about possible knockon effect of the above in UK could spill over here too. We are not immune ..

They need to amend. Irish people preference has changed. These retailers need to change. 10 years ago middle class wouldn't touch LIDL, it was kind of a shame to shop in these shops 'for poor people', this has changed. People realized they can get more value and the expensive British products are not better quality, often worse, just nicely packaged and advertised.

Halfords simply cannot compete with ones like Micksgarage or mister-auto.
M&S is really from a different era.
Debenhams - I see people go there and then order online the same things half the price.
Spar, Super Value - provide no value at all. The only time people shop there is when they run off something in between visits to Lidl or Aldi.

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They need to amend. Irish people preference has changed. These retailers need to change. 10 years ago middle class wouldn't touch LIDL, it was kind of a shame to shop in these shops 'for poor people', this has changed. People realized they can get more value and the expensive British products are not better quality, often worse, just nicely packaged and advertised.

Halfords simply cannot compete with ones like Micksgarage or mister-auto.
M&S is really from a different era.
Debenhams - I see people go there and then order online the same things half the price.
Spar, Super Value - provide no value at all. The only time people shop there is when they run off something in between visits to Lidl or Aldi.

Much of this is true. It's amazing how much of our shopping is done online. It's hard to see a future for the high street. Parking charges and business rates much seem like a cruel joke to high street retailers.

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Went into a major electrical retailer just after Christmas with my wife to buy her a new laptop.

The experience was bizarre, to say the least. Identified the model we wanted, spoke to a sales assistant (with a name badge and uniform) and he said he would get me one from the stores and I could bring it to the till. Waited about 15 minutes, business was brisk but not overly busy so after waiting, caught the attention of a manager and told him our situation. Asked could I remember the sales person name, which I did and he said there was nobody of that name working in the shop!

Explained what I wanted and he sent another nice chap over to us, took note of the laptop model and off he went. 15 minutes went by, no sign, found same manager and he said leave it with him. Another 15 mins or so passed, asked at till if the manager, whose name I had, was available, lady said she would check. After a few minutes she called us over and said he had left for the day. Told her I was there over an hour trying to buy a laptop, she said she would get someone to deal with us. After another 10-15 minutes just gave up, went home, ordered same laptop off an online retailer, had it delivered within 48 hours.

Is it any wonder retail is dying if this is what you get when you try to actually buy something off them? Bear in mind, it was over 1000 of a purchase I was trying to make.

Let's all raise a glass of frog milk to the ancient festival of Fargaltide!

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They need to amend. Irish people preference has changed. These retailers need to change. 10 years ago middle class wouldn't touch LIDL, it was kind of a shame to shop in these shops 'for poor people', this has changed. People realized they can get more value and the expensive British products are not better quality, often worse, just nicely packaged and advertised.

Halfords simply cannot compete with ones like Micksgarage or mister-auto.
M&S is really from a different era.
Debenhams - I see people go there and then order online the same things half the price.
Spar, Super Value - provide no value at all. The only time people shop there is when they run off something in between visits to Lidl or Aldi.

I find Super Valu has an over inflated sense of itself. Its own brand stuff is no better than Tescos and most of the brand names can be bought in Tesco, Dunnes or Aldi/Lidl at a cheaper price.

The one close to me used to have a top notch bakery and known for it when it was Superquinn, but ever since the Super Valu rebrand, it just has bland, mass produced (or at least they taste that way) breads and cakes etc. Their fish mongers was also great but again, its dropped quite a bit and now I go to a local fish mongers which, while being that big dearer, does do high quality sea food.

Let's all raise a glass of frog milk to the ancient festival of Fargaltide!

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Yes, you can get everything under one roof at SuperValu but they are dear,there bakery bread is poor, , never buy sweets , chocolates or biscuits there, the prices are outrageous.
Spar can actually be cheaper than SuperValu for some items if you have time to shop around it pays.

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well OD , it seems that staff are instructed to say "Yes , to anything the customer wants" but it is a different thing if it is available or not.Just in time delivery, has caused problems with all non-perishables goods.All companies store goods in huge distribution centres outside high rent areas and use small independent traders to deliver locally if they don't have their own contractors available.Maybe this retailer was hoping you would settle for what they had available, instead of what you wanted, this is the fall-back option for retailers. I am not surprised at what happened to you. It is not due to floor staff but , pen-pushing middle-management lackeys who are climbing the greasy pole for promotion and financial reward.

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well OD , it seems that staff are instructed to say "Yes , to anything the customer wants" but it is a different thing if it is available or not.Just in time delivery, has caused problems with all non-perishables goods.All companies store goods in huge distribution centres outside high rent areas and use small independent traders to deliver locally if they don't have their own contractors available.Maybe this retailer was hoping you would settle for what they had available, instead of what you wanted, this is the fall-back option for retailers. I am not surprised at what happened to you. It is not due to floor staff but , pen-pushing middle-management lackeys who are climbing the greasy pole for promotion and financial reward.

Yes .. JIT is all around us for non perishable goods especially IT hardware. I can vouch for 2 things:

1. Even IT Trade distro has gone all the way JIT. Everything is now 24/48 hours. I go to IT distro warehouses and they are pretty much empty around my neck of the woods. Yes you might get a few cheap things like a Ram stick, a usb drive BUT if you want a laptop, a HP Multifunction laser and the like then its 24/48 Hours ... and at the moment mainly in from the UK.

2. PCWORLD are and have been for last few years substantially cheaper to buy something from than the same or similar product from an IT Trade Distributor. Reason for this it seems is PCWORLD get supplied from the UK main Currys / PCWORLD warehouses. Ireland is treated like a region of UK to benefit from economies of scale.

Both points will be interesting after Brexit, especially if hard no deal brexit ..

I also find it interesting that people will go into a shop demanding a product NOW. Then storm out if they dont have it. Next they go online that night and order it from a company outside there country and have no issue at all waiting for 48 hours or more before they get it. What happened to the I expect it NOW?

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Though this time it isnt that people DONT HAVE money to spend, it seems they do. Its because they are spending it with likes of Amazon and ITS JUST GOING OUT OF THIS COUNTRY in bucket loads. Of no benefit to the local economy at all .. ?